60 People, 60 Stories
Coming together
By Jules Quartly (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-30 08:10
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Shot on a small budget and with no big-name stars, it is set on the island's southern shores, near Kenting, which is famous for its annual Spring Scream music festival.
Fan plays the lead role of a struggling singer in Taipei who decides to return home. After various humorous adventures, the film ends on a high note when Fan's character holds a wildly successful concert on the beach and finds love.
The beauty of the film, for Fan, is that his life followed art and the concert really did make him famous.
"I can definitely say that before Cape No 7 was screened my career was in a bottleneck, life was full of uncertainties and a sense of powerlessness," Van says in an exchange of e-mails from Canada, where he was on tour.
"It really was similar to the role I played in Cape No 7."
The film's popularity surprised everyone, not least of all Fan, who bet it would not make more than NT$30 million ($914,000) and said if it did, he would swim naked in the sea.
Cape No 7 became Taiwan's highest grossing film ($13.8 million) after Titanic and won a slew of prizes at film festivals, including six Golden Horse awards.
A man of his word, images of Fan skinny-dipping and showing off his butt cheeks to the world were splashed across Asia's entertainment pages and went viral on the Web.
Though Fan did have a following after releasing four albums and recording the hit song I Believe, in 2003, Cape No 7 raised his profile exponentially.
Naturally, he has been cashing in and makes regular visits to the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Japan to sponsor products and perform. Success has also allowed him to be more than just a manufactured record company product.
"I was known as the 'Prince of Love Songs', which was the record company's way of positioning me because the market at that time preferred ballad idols. But my preference is rock 'n' roll."
Fan said his next album, due later this year, will have a harder edge and be closer to his musical roots. As for movies, he is constantly being offered new roles but does not see any distinction between being a musician or an actor.
"Actually, it's not important whether I see myself primarily as an actor or singer. What's important is what I want to express or convey. My feelings are the same, I approach what I do as art."
This focus on being an artist, not just a product or teen icon, also underpins his attitude toward politics.
The releasing of Cape No 7 on the Chinese mainland was delayed until February 2009 because it "overtly" showed the influence of Japan, which occupied Taiwan between 1895 and 1945. A slimmed-down version of the film received less popularity on the mainland.
"I think art is for art's sake, you can't let politics and history get involved too much. In the world of art, we need freedom and variety," Fan says of the controversy.
Speaking of the popularity that Taiwan films and music have in the Chinese-speaking world, he said this is partly because of its ability to absorb outside influences.
"Taiwan (and Hong Kong) often quickly integrate Western and Japanese influences. Then they will incorporate Chinese people's culture before it becomes a new thing.It doesn't matter whether its music, fashion or showbiz."
He calls the Chinese mainland a huge "magnet" that attracts people from around the world.
But he says it is natural for Chinese-speaking celebrities, in particular, to focus on the mainland because of its cultural and economic clout.
He said the Chinese-speaking "celebrity circle is united" and cited the charitable response of showbiz types to the Asian tsunami, Sichuan earthquake and "88" (the date typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan) as examples of what he calls "two shores, three places" - meaning the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
"We celebrities don't differentiate. We all get together and show solidarity."
Time line
1949
Martial law is imposed in Taiwan in May, months before Chiang Kai-shek flees there with 2 million Kuomintang (KMT) followers. Chiang rules for decades with hopes of "reclaiming" the mainland.
1979
The mainland ends the shelling of Dajinmen, Xiaojinmen, Dadam and other islands, which began in 1958, and proposes cross-Straits exchange of mail, trade, air and shipping services at an early date.
1980s
Taiwan-born singer Teresa Teng, along with a batch of musicians, actors and actresses from the island, rise to supreme popularity across the Chinese mainland.
1984
Taiwan singer Xi Xiulan is invited to sing at the mainland's Spring Festival Gala.
May 2000
The island's superstar A-mei is banned from the mainland after singing Taiwan's "national anthem" at the inauguration of pro-independence "president" Chen Shui-bian.
Jan 30, 2005
For the first time in 56 years, direct flights carry passengers between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.
April 29, 2005
CPC chief Hu Jintao meets KMT leader Lien Chan.
2006
Taiwan television show host Jacky Wu is invited to host a program for the mainland's China Central Television.
2007
The mainland's ban on A-mei is lifted.
July 2009
Minister of Culture Cai Wu says cultural authorities are making policies to encourage greater access for Taiwan's entertainment business on the mainland.
